New rocket Falcon Heavy sent into space car Mask

View from SpaceX’s Launch Control. Apparently, there is a car in orbit around Earth. pic.twitter.com/QljN2VnL1O

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2018

New most powerful rocket, the Falcon Heavy of SpaceX successfully made its first test flight: flew into space sports car of the owner of SpaceX Elon musk.

The launch from the spaceport at Cape Canaveral (FL) was given in 23:45 GMT.

«A terrific start», — summed up the start of the broadcaster. An hour later, after starting as competitors and partners were quick to congratulate the company Ilona Mask, which seemed to the Mask to the end did not believe.

«We all know how much effort must be made to the first launch of a new rocket, and we all witnessed the stunning achievements of today», — said the acting head of NASA Robert Lightfoot. He congratulated itself as a company and NASA officials, allowing the launch pad of the space centre of Kennedy on Cape Canaveral.

Congratulated the successful launch and CEO of Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson — competitor Mask that implements a program to create a reusable suborbital vehicle. «It’s wonderful to see how commercial space companies pushing the boundaries (possible),» wrote Branson in his Twitter microblog, conveying congratulations to Elon musk and SpaceX. Congratulations on a successful start has been sent and the head of United Launch Alliance Tory Bruno.

Do not leave without congratulating the winner and the President of the United States Donald trump. Late in the evening in Washington, almost six hours after the launch, he wrote in his Twitter: «Congratulations to Elon musk and SpaceX on the successful launch of the Falcon Heavy. That achievement, along with commercial and international partners, NASA continues to demonstrate American skill in the best light.»

Though the creators of the rocket warned that the chances of success of start substantially equal to the odds for an emergency start, which feared the Masks could result in a big «salute», everything went without incident and according to plan: separation of the side boosters occurred two minutes after the start, a minute later separated the Central block of the first stage. Ten minutes after the start has occurred the regular separation of the second stage of the launch vehicle and its upper stage went into a preliminary orbit.

About an hour later after the launch, the company resumed shortly after the live broadcast started and caused quite a stir in the social media stream of space travel Tesla Roadster, which sits behind the wheel of a mannequin by the name Starman in the SpaceX suit.

«And here’s the car on the earth’s orbit,» wrote Elon Musk, the leading livestream on his Twitter. According to him, the upper stage of the rocket with a car for five hours will remain in the magnetosphere of the Earth, then shall take place the last third, the inclusion of a rocket engine for travel a sports car to Mars. On the electronic panel of the machine dummy has the inscription «don’t panic!».

What happened: at the estimated time, six hours after the launch, the upper stage engine, carrying as payload a red Tesla Roadster, was included for the third time outside the Earth’s magnetosphere. As confirmed by the Mask, «the third starting the engines was a success. Surpassed the orbit of Mars towards the asteroid belt».

As he said at a press conference after the launch, the battery upper stage booster designed to work for about 12 hours after launch. It is assumed that during this time SpaceX will get the signal from my «space car» that travels in space to the music of David Bowie. After hopes Musk, «it will stay in space, maybe billions and billions of years…».

«Maybe then he’ll find the future of the tribes of aliens, who will ask the question: what do they do? Maybe they are praying for this car? Why have them in the car even a small car? It will confuse them at all!»said, laughing, Musk. Apparently, it was for a meeting with aliens on the dashboard of the Tesla fitted her miniature with an astronaut in it, and the green plateau of electronic machines there is an inscription in English: «Made on Earth by men» (Made on Earth by Humans). The main idea of the Mask in the selection of simulator cargo in the inaugural flight was that it was not boring to «it was frivolous and ridiculous.» He obviously succeeded, the stream start his car in the distant space staring, according to media reports, more than three million people, and the broadcast of the flight of the red racing cars background golubeyko of the globe — more than five million people.

The most powerful, reusable and cheap?

Falcon Heavy, SpaceX start which turned into a kind of show, created on the basis of the carrier rocket Falcon 9. Its first stage is equipped with a liquid rocket with Merlin engines, nine in Central and two lateral boosters. For demonstration start is used, two accelerators are stored after the previous Falcon 9 launches.

After the start, on the idea of SpaceX, all three accelerator first stage was supposed to land. The side has already been flown on other missions, the Falcon 9, almost simultaneously landed on a platform near the start. Central was about to land on a barge in the Atlantic, however, the stream of his landing was interrupted for a few seconds before the intended landing.

Edition of the Verge later reported, citing a source that the Central accelerator first-stage booster rocket, the Falcon Heavy could not land on the floating platform, collapsed into the waters of the Atlantic ocean at speeds exceeding 480 kilometers per hour and crashed. The information was confirmed during a press conference SpaceX.

Named the best footage on the GoPro in 2017 годуFalcon Heavy designed to deliver low — earth orbit of up to 64 tons of cargo on Mars is about 16.8 tons, and Pluto — to 3.5 tons. According to experts, it is the fourth in the list of powerful rockets, created in the history of space exploration, after the Soviet «Energy» and «N-1» as well as the American Saturn 5 and the space Shuttle. Because they have long made their flights, the latest Falcon Heavy is now, as stated by its creators, «the most powerful booster in the world.»

«After liftoff, the Falcon Heavy twice will surpass the current most powerful rocket in the world. With a lifting capacity of 64 tons (to LEO) that is more Laden with passengers, crew, baggage and fuel the aircraft, a Boeing 737, Falcon Heavy can lift a load two times heavier than the closest to her in the class of the current Delta IV Heavy, and to do it for a third of the cost of its launch,» the company said before the start.

NASA showed a panoramic view from the center of the milky Pariisista that SpaceX has already concluded three contracts at the start of the Falcon Heavy: two commercial launch for telecommunication companies Arabsat and ViaSat and one for the US Armed forces.

Having won the hearts and minds of the triumphant launch of the Falcon Heavy, Musk said that his company now even more confidently will make all efforts to develop new missiles BFR. That will be a useful load in its first flight, which is planned for early 2020-ies, he, by his own admission, not yet thought of. It’s probably «something frivolous and funny». In fact, according to the businessman, «that’s frivolous and ridiculous — what’s important».